One of my favorite websites is DeviantArt.com (warning, there is occasionally adult content at this link). I haven’t figured out yet what kind of voodoo it is that makes all the art on there so good. My best guess is that the art isn’t really all that good (after all, they let me post my scribbles there) but that the software makes it easier to find the good stuff.

Doll art, unfortunately, is rather sparse on DA, although I’m finding more of it all the time. One recent discovery (for me, at least) is Kevin Buntin. Buntin does the kind of work I want to do: he invents woodsy, folksy characters with tons of personality, detailed costumes and long, involved backstories. His website is designed to look like a storybook, which is an apt metaphor for his work, but the real treasure trove is his DeviantArt page, which contains more than 230 pictures of his work. That’s why there are so many in this blog entry; I just couldn’t resist them all!

But just in case you didn’t admire his talent enough already, there’s more. Many of us who have the dollmaking bug enjoy the multi-disciplinary aspect of it. In other words, we make dolls because we don’t just want to sculpt, we also want to make wigs and shoes and, in Buntin’s case, little books and furniture and crazy tassels. His tiny, handmade blank book is amazingly detailed, and check out the acorn chalice made for his “oak man.” His surreal “faery tassels” are a hoot, too.

Kevin Buntin is associated with Duirwaigh Gallery and I certainly hope to hear more about him as time goes on. What a great talent.